Ai no Ki, The Love Tree
by P. Franz
Summary: “Sam, I’m going to put our names into this tree. I want this to be our tree, and I want everyone who walks by it to know that it’s ours. I want to show them that we’re best friends, and will be forever.”


**This is something I originally wrote for a community on Livejournal about my original character, Kazumi, and one of the guitarists of Dir en grey, Die.**

**Well, I was going through my Livejournal today, though, and found it...and thought it would be a cute iCarly one-shot...so I changed a few things. I think I caught everything but I'm not perfect...so if I didn't, please let me know. har har**

**Well, hope you guys enjoy it. I'm off May 4th from work so, I'll be working on iNeed You. I know all of you have been waiting patiently for it, so I'm trying to hurry with it. :D Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. I love you guys!**

**Ai no Ki || The Love Tree  
**

The room was quiet; the only noises to be heard were the rustling pages of Algebra books and the gentle scratching of pencils against paper. It's not that I hated math, it just wasn't exactly one of my strongest subjects. It didn't interest me at all, it was too hard, and I didn't care enough to study or even pay attention in class, much less do the assigned work. So, while the rest of the class took free time to do the assigned problems, I busied myself with writing notes to my best friend, Carly Shay, and gazing at her in adoration at the same time. Who needed to do math when you could write notes to the cutest girl in school instead? Besides, this was the last class of the day; there was no sense in wasting the final hour before freedom doing _school_work.

Actually, my paper was blank. I couldn't think of anything to write at the moment. "Math sucks." or "God, I hate this class so much." was about the extent of anything that would go on that paper right now. Of course, I could have just written, "I know we're best friends and all, but I really like you as a lot more than just a friend. In fact, I think I love you." but no; I didn't think I could ever tell her that. This was our last year in high school; after it was over we would go to college. She was moving away, though, going to Baltimore to study medicine at Johns Hopkins and leaving me behind. I didn't know why, but that was okay with me. Surely she'd come back to Seattle to visit on breaks and I'd be able to see her then; we'd be able to hang out and do things together like we did now. At least that's what I hoped.  
While I was staring blankly into the lined paper that lay on my desk, trying to figure out something to write on it, a neatly folded piece of paper injected itself into my vision, sliding off my desk and into my backpack on the floor. I knew exactly what it was and where it had come from. While she always folded her notes neatly, I just balled mine up and threw them at her or stuffed them into her pocket or backpack as we passed in the hallway. I kept every one of them locked in a box in my closet; they were special to me because they had come from her. Quickly, I grabbed the note and began to unfold it, looking across the room at her, smiling. "Meet me at our tree after school." it said; nothing more, nothing less. I folded the note back and put it into my bag then looked at her and nodded. She returned my nod and the smile from before. _Our_ tree, she called it. It was named that because of what was carved into its trunk.

Freshman year of high school, Carly and I sat under that tree every day during lunch; and we _still_ did, even now. We didn't sit at the table that had been placed there, no; we sat on the tree's roots and on the green grass that surrounded them. One autumn day after we had eaten, after the bell had rung, she asked me to stay behind and wait with her. After everyone else returned to their respective classes, she turned to me, pulling out a pocket knife she had borrowed from Spencer. I remember her words like it happened just yesterday.

_"Sam, I'm going to put our names into this tree. I want this to be **our** tree, and I want everyone who walks by it to know that it's ours. I want to show them that we're best friends, and will be forever."  
_

_I nodded and smiled at her, watching as she carved her name, then mine, into a blank spot on the tree. Under our names she wrote "B.F.F.", Best Friends Forever. And finally, she encased the entire thing in a heart-shape. To me, it meant something more than just friends, now. After putting the knife away, she turned to me again, opening her arms and inviting me into a tight hug.  
_

_"I love you."  
_

_"I love you too."  
_

_We both said it, but it didn't **really** mean anything at that time. Neither of us knew what love was; we were much too young.  
Before we parted from our tree, she caught my hand.  
_

_"Wait, I have something for you."  
_

_I paused in curiosity.  
_

_"What is it?"  
_

_She dug her hand into the pocket of her tight, antique washed jeans and pulled out a ring. It was silver, with kind of a rustic look to it. Around the outside, "real love is forever" was engraved. I gasped slightly as she handed it to me.  
_

_"Look around the inside."  
_

_I did as she said. My name was etched into it in small, cursive letters. "Samantha Puckett" I smiled massively and put it on my finger then hugged her.  
_

_"Thanks. I love it.."  
_

_"You're welcome. I was hoping you would. Keep it forever, Sam. Don't lose it."  
_

_"I won't, Cupcake. I promise."_

Apparently I had broken that promise without even realizing it. It happened just two days ago, though, but still, a promise was a promise. I didn't want to tell her about it, because I thought it might upset her. I couldn't find that ring _anywhere_. I searched every place I had been in the past week and it was nowhere to be found. Rubbing the bare spot on my left ring finger where it always made its home, I sighed. The last time I remembered having it was this past weekend before Carly and I went swimming. I recalled taking it off and leaving it on her dresser but I had no idea what happened to it after that. Maybe I should just tell her anyway, she might know where it is.

My eyes were heavy; I folded my arms on my desk and laid my head on top of them, hoping to get a nap in before the bell rang. Nevertheless, not a second after my head hit my arms I heard my teacher's shrill voice tear through the silence like a sharp blade through a leaf.

"Ms. Puckett!"

I shot up like my desk was on fire, knocking my pencil and book to the ground and scattering the blank papers around them.

"There is no sleeping in my class. Now do your work!"

I sighed; a quiet chuckle filled the room as I got up from my chair to pick up my fallen items. I gathered the papers and stuffed them into the book then picked it up, along with my pencil.

"Sorry, Francine. It won't happen again."

She scowled at me. My gaze found Carly's while returning to my seat. She wasn't laughing, only smiling. I smiled as well, snickering a bit to myself. Despite how outspoken I was, despite our best friend status, that girl would never know how I felt about her. Never. _Our tree_ would be the only one to ever know. Of course, if she just asked, I'm sure it would be happy to tell her.

Finally, the bell rang; I hurried and picked up my things and departed for my locker. Carly was long gone by the time I got out of the room but I knew where she would be. I stuck my bag in my locker and hurried off to our meeting spot. I always left my bag at school rather than take it home because my mom would go through it. Yes, I was 17 years old, a senior in high school, and my mom still stuck her nosey little hands into _everything_ of mine. I'm surprised that she even cared that much, seeing as most of the time she was too busy nursing a beer bottle to pay attention to me. The end-of-the-day rush was always bad coming through this hall. It had the most classrooms and therefore, the most people in it. It was hard to navigate through without pushing and pulling a few people around; stepping on feet, backpacks, and various school projects; and running into students, teachers, and even occasionally the principal himself while he scanned the halls for after-hours troublemakers. Honestly, I didn't care who I ran over, everyone in school was afraid of me so they pretty much made a path for me to walk through. When out of the hall, I darted across campus to our tree. It was in the top, left corner of the big, open lunch area which sat in the direct center of the school. I saw her standing there, waiting, propped up against the tree with her backpack on the ground beside her. Despite my anxiousness, I maintained a steady walk and controlled the desire to break into a sprint in order to get there faster and see what she wanted.

"Get caught in traffic?"

I smirked.

"A little bit. How'd you get out here so fast?"

"I ran."

I laughed, as I had wanted to do the same thing.

"You haven't noticed something..._missing_ lately, have you?"

I looked down at my finger then back up at her. Oh no, what if she found out without me saying anything and she was mad?

"Maybe...why?"

She hesitated.

"Carly, I'm sorry. I left it at your house when we went swimming and I couldn't find it when I left the next day. I-"

"Calm down, silly. I have it."

"What?"

"Your ring, I have it."

What a relief.

"Oh. You found it? I'm so sorry, it must've fallen off of your dresser. I know I said I'd never lose it...I'm sorry."

She giggled at me.

"No, no. I took it while you were still at the pool."

She opened her hand, revealing the ring.

"Here."

I carefully took it from her hand.

_"Look around the inside."  
_

_I did as she said._ Beside my name was a small heart, and beside the heart was _her_ name written in the same small, cursive lettering. "Carly Shay". I'm not exactly sure what it meant to her, but to me it meant so much more. Just like the tree, _it meant something more than just friends, now._

_"Thanks. I love it.."  
_

_"You're welcome. I was hoping you would. Keep it forever, Sam. Don't lose it."  
_

_"I won't, Cupcake. I promise."_

I put the ring on my finger and hugged her tightly.

"You don't know how much this means to me, Carls."

"Hopefully just as much as it means to me."

I was silent for a minute, gazing into her eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

This time it meant something, I could feel it in her voice and, in my heart I knew I meant it too. We weren't children anymore; I think we both understood what love was.  
Thank you, Tree.

_Samantha Puckett *heart* Carly Shay_


End file.
